Virtual Economy Research Network's purpose is to promote academic research in the area, serve as a research resource, and enhance communication between scholars and developers. The main features of the site are a blog, an email list and a bibliography. Read more...

VERN mini-seminar on item payment revenue models in Helsinki

On 26. September, the DCC research group at HIIT is organising a mini-seminar under the topic “Massively multi-user services and the item payment model”. A keynote speech will be delivered by our visitor from Korea, professor Leo Sang-Min Whang of Yonsei University. Prof. Whang is a leading researcher of the psychology of MMORPGs and virtual items in Korea.

Other speakers are Sulka Haro, Lead Concept Designer at Sulake Corporation, creators of the popular teenage virtual world Habbo Hotel; and Teddy Grenman, founder of Dynamoid, the company behind Finland’s top community site IRC-galleria and WoW-players’ picture community Dark Portal. Both of these successful companies are applying the item payment revenue model. Questions that will be addressed during the seminar include “how is demand for virtual items created?” and “what are the limits of virtual property trade?”